


Monster Inside Me

by Cryssalia



Series: Big Bad Wolf [1]
Category: RWBY
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2019-12-17
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:20:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21832834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cryssalia/pseuds/Cryssalia
Summary: Hunters and Huntresses are trained to kill the creatures of Grimm. So if they ever find out there's a Grimm living among them, they would definitely kill it right? Ruby couldn't afford the risk and decided to keep it to herself but her actions slowly putting her trust towards her teammates in jeopardy.
Relationships: Ruby Rose & Yang Xiao Long
Series: Big Bad Wolf [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1573183
Kudos: 14





	1. Changing

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, here we are with Monster Inside Me! This is actually a redux of an old one on Fanfiction.net. Anyway, enjoy!

Who would’ve thought that bringing a Grimm in the sparring arena isn’t a good idea?

The students are hunters in training, so fighting a Grimm has been a daily basis for them to improve their skills and keeping peace. An overexcited Ruby Rose volunteered to fight with the Grimm when Glynda Goodwitch asked.

To Ruby, it is the perfect moment to show everyone what she’s made of especially to her team mates and her partner, Weiss Schnee. The ice queen crosses her arms and watches the younger girl. Ruby notices and grins, making the white-haired girl flustered.

The caged Beowolf keeps shaking the cage, scratching and banging against the cage door. The older woman opens the cage and the Grimm immediately lunges out. It sets its eyes to Ruby, who it growls at and bares its teeth in intimidation. A cocky grin plastered on her face as she raises her scythe. The Beowolf slowly crawls to her, its tail is raised in threat.

It snarls and suddenly Ruby trembles, uncertain of the wolf’s intention other than baring its teeth and growls. It crawls instead of lunging or running towards her as if the killer instinct isn’t in its biology.

It gets closer than it supposed to be and Ruby starts to back away, taking slow steps and keeps her weapon pointed at it. The growl becomes loud and it lunges. Ruby gasps and swings her scythe, hitting the side of its head. Ruby jumps back when it swipes its claws aimlessly. Her scythe changes to its gun mode and shot it several times

Her eyes widen when the wolf manages to knocked her bullets away. She immediately changes her gun to scythe mode and quickly blocked its claws. Yang become worried, she’s halfway to get up from her seat and thought about intervening. But her sister found a way to beat it. She ducks as it swipes its claws again, knocking it off its feet with her scythe and slashes it.

Yang sit back down and sighs softly. Her black-haired companion next to her notices, “She knows what she’s doing, Yang,” she says.

Yang look at her and squints her eyes, “I’m still amazed how do you know what I’m thinking, Belladonna,” she answers. Blake smirks.

“I have my ways,” she says and giggles. Yang shrugs and look back at her sister in the arena, jumping and waving happily.

Weiss watches her enthusiastic partner and sighs. Still wants to show off, she thought. She looks over at the Beowolf which starts to disintegrate but then, the wolf twitches. Her eyes widen, it’s obvious smoke coming out of the creature so it’s supposed to be dead.

But the wolf gets up. Gasps of shock echoes throughout the hall. Smoke still emits from the wounds of the creature and yet, it doesn’t stop it. Ruby hears the footsteps and the moment she turns, the Beowolf lunges at her, swipes its claws and slashes her gut.

“RUBY!!” Yang yells and jumps into the arena. Her eyes burn red and she punches the wolf. More smoke emits from the additional wounds but it still moving, slow like a zombie. It lunges, knocking Yang away and pounces on Ruby. The younger girl breathes rapidly in panic, her eyes filled with fear and tears fall from her eyes due to the pain as the wolf steps onto her wounds. It growls, with its red eyes stares at her fiercely and it raises its claw.

Blake jumps in followed by Weiss. Blake takes out her weapon and shot it in the head. Black blood from the Grimm splatters on Ruby. She cringes, and Blake immediately kicks it away when it suddenly become limp. Weiss stabs it repeatedly with her rapier and makes sure it died for good.

Yang notices her sister’s condition and quickly crawl towards her. She cradles Ruby in her arms, shaking her gently for answer of assurance but Ruby slowly fall unconscious. The last thing she hear was her sister’s call before she closes her eyes.

* * *

When she wakes up, she sees a white ceiling which is enough to tell her she’s not in her dorm. Her muscles are numb and her sight still blurs from the light. She blinks several times before she gets a clear view of her surroundings. She’s in the infirmary and she can see her sister is asleep on her right side on a chair and also Weiss with her head rested on the edge of her bed.

Blake is at the end of her bed, reading her book. She tries to sit up and groans, earning the attention from the black-haired girl. “Ruby?” she places her book down and gets up, going to Ruby’s side and gently push her down. “You shouldn’t move. You’re still recovering,” she says.

Ruby sighs softly and slowly nod. “H-how long… I’ve been here?” she asks.

Blake stays silent for a moment, looking down to think for a moment, “It’s been three days,” she says. “The wound wasn’t fatal but it’ll leave some ugly scars.”

Ruby frowns, looking at her sister and her partner in guilt. Blake notices and places her hand on her shoulder, “Don’t beat yourself over it. Nobody ever thought a Grimm could’ve come back to life,” Blake says.

“But I’ve made them worried…” she mumbles. Blake sighs and smiles. She caresses the younger girl’s hair.

“They’ll understand. But let’s not wake them up for now. They haven’t slept for a while for worrying you.”

Ruby nods. But then she tilts her head in confusion, “What about you, Blake? Have you been sleeping?” she asks.

“I took a few naps while waiting here with them,” she replies and sighs softly. “I’m going to inform the doctor that you’re awake. Just don’t move so much, okay?”

“Okay,” Ruby says. Blake quietly leaves the room and closes the door. Ruby lays still on her bed. She carefully lifts her arms and look at them. Her eyes widen and she gasps softly, seeing a pair of paws instead of hands. She blinks, only to see them going back to normal.

“I… I must be dreaming…” She mutters to herself and slowly closes her eyes. “Sleep is the only option for now…”

* * *

It doesn’t take long for Ruby to find out something’s wrong with her.

Ruby is finally discharged from the infirmary after she’s confirmed to have no serious injuries. But she still gets scolded by Weiss and Yang for making them worried and Blake suggested to treat Ruby for lunch to shorten their lectures. Nevertheless, they agreed.

At the cafeteria, they sit with team JNPR. Weiss brings a plate of cookies for Ruby. She beams at her white-haired partner, who easily blushes and look away. “Thanks, Weiss!” she says.

The smell of the freshly baked cookies entices Ruby and she immediately take a bite from one of them. But as soon as the crumbs reaches her throat, she feels nauseous. She cringes, looking away quickly from the others and tries to swallow it. Across the table, Pyrrha notices. “Ruby, are you okay?” she asks, surprising the younger girl and she instantly swallowed it. She quickly sits back up.

“I-I’m okay! See?” she laughs nervously and look at her friends. Receiving no answer from them, she gulps and eat the rest. Each cookie worsens her nausea to the point she couldn’t hold it in anymore. She gets up and run for the restroom. She barges in, run into a cubicle and throw up.

Her throats burn from throwing up too much. She gasps, walking towards the sink and washes her mouth. She splashes water to her face and looks up to the mirror. She yelps in surprise, noticing a pair of wolf ears and looks at her dog-like face. She trembles and slowly look at her hands, or in this case… claws that resembles the Beowolf’s. Cold sweat running down her face and she hyperventilates.

She hears footsteps approaching and she splashes her face again. Seeing her face won’t change and the ears won’t go away, she quickly pulls up her hood and makes sure it covers her face or at least shadows it.

Yang peeks in, concern is plastered on her face, “Ruby, what’s wrong? You ran off just like that. Are you sick?” she asks. “What’s with the hood, sis?”

Yang is reaching out for her hood as she gets close. Ruby freezes, terrified of what would her sister say about her face and ears and yelps. She doesn’t hear gasp of shock from the blonde. She glances at the mirror, only to see her face has returned to normal. Yang tilts her head in confusion upon seeing her sister staring at the mirror. “What’s with you? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” she says.

Ruby stays still for a moment, trying to process what she has seen. She sighs softly and grabs Yang’s hand, “I-it’s nothing. Let’s go…” she replies and pulls her out of the restroom.

She’s never been that terrified since the last time she fought the Beowolf.


	2. Control

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She might be hallucinating. Yeah, just a hallucination! She's just tired! Or so she believe anyway. There's no way hallucinations hurt others, right?

“Have I been imagining things?” she asks herself. She looks at herself in the mirror again, this time in her dorm’s restroom. She looks at her hands; they don’t change into paws.

The door is knocked and Weiss’ voice can be heard outside, “Ruby, what’re you doing in there for so long?” she asks. Ruby opens the faucet and splashes her face with water. She closes it, dries her face and opens the door, giving the heiress a sheepish grin.

“N-nothing! C-come on, Yang and Blake must’ve been waiting long!” she quickly walks past Weiss as if she’s avoiding her. Weiss looks at her skeptically, but she follows her. They go to the courtyard, seeing Yang and Blake waiting for them at the airship pad. Weiss grabs Ruby’s hand and picks up the pace.

“Sorry we’re late,” Weiss says.

“It’s cool. We just got here anyway. Well, what’re we waiting for then?” Yang grins. Blake sighs softly and smiles, amused by her partner’s enthusiasm.

They get onto the ship, taking their seats and once all the passengers sit, the ship takes off to the city of Vale. Most of the time, Ruby looks out of the window. Usually she’s the bubbly one among the four, she always has something to talk about even to the silliest topics. But she stays quiet, staring out of the window and her mind drifts off to somewhere else.

But it doesn’t last long when the image of the Beowolf from the class appeared, startling her and she yelps. The three older girls look at her in surprise and concern. “What’s wrong, Ruby?” Blake asks.

"T-there was... B-Beowolf... It was-..." Yang cuts her off.

"That was long ago, Ruby. That Beowolf is dead."

"B-but I saw-..."

“Ruby,” Weiss calls and places her hand on hers, “Everything’s alright now. That Beowolf is not going to hurt you anymore.”

Ruby frowns and looks away, deciding to stay silent. The older girls look at each other in concern but none of them says anything for the rest of the trip.

* * *

Ruby would definitely be skipping and humming, but she’s too silent. Most of the time she would stare on the ground which at the same time, making sure she stays close to her team mates. This is the first time she’s feeling extremely anxious around everyone, including her friends.

They’re walking through the park. A man with his dog are walking past them but the hound stops, turning to Ruby and barks. The girls stop, startled by the sudden outburst by the dog. The owner apologizes and tries to pull his dog away. The hound glares at the younger girl and growls. Ruby gulps, she trembles and grips onto her collar tightly.

The dog gets close, its movement is almost similar to the Beowolf and she grits her teeth. Her teeth slowly become jagged and her eyes flashes red. Her stance becomes threatening and she growls loudly, almost like a roar. The hound whimpers and its ears droops, quickly hide behind its master. The man and her friends looks at her in shock.

Realizing what she did, she backs away slowly before running off, leaving the park and her team mates. She gasps and breathes rapidly, looking around just to see those people looking back at her in confusion. Unable to bear the looks from the others, she runs into an alley. She stops and tries to calm down. She covers her face with her hands and sighs deeply. But when she opens, she gasps to see her hands become paws and her nails grew sharp, resembling claws.

“W-why? Why is this happening to me?” She leans back against the wall and sits. She buries her face into her knees and sobs softly.

* * *

“Don’t you ever run off like that!” Weiss scolds. Ruby looks down in guilt, frowns even more. She hides her hands in her cloak, making sure she conceals them.

“C’mon, Weiss. She’s here and doing fine. You don’t have to make her feel bad,” Yang protests.

Ruby stays silent. In her mind, she’s glad to have her appearance to changed back to normal. She couldn’t listen to what her friends converse before her. She sighs softly, her hands twitches but she manages to avoid them being noticed.

They’ve gone back to Beacon after Ruby insisted they should. They begin to suspect something but they decided to keep it to themselves. None of them say anything, not even to Ruby who purposely lag behind and let them take the lead instead. She questioned herself whether she should tell them what’s going on with her.

But what if she’s deemed as a danger? Ruby quickly shake her head in denial. She whimpers quietly and stays silent.

“Hey, you guys are back early!” A boy calls and they see Jaune and Pyrrha approaching. Ruby gulps and grew nervous. Yang scratches the back of her head and grins sheepishly.

“Yeah, well, we got a little issue so we decided to head back early,” she says.

“Bummer… we thought about going there and hang out with you guys,” he replies and notices Ruby pulling up her hood. He frowns, “What’s wrong, Ruby?”

Ruby gulps harder, she quivers in fear and her lips trembles. She starts to back away, “I-it’s nothing…” she quietly replies.

“Ruby, you’ve been acting weird lately. Did we do something wrong to you?” Weiss asks.

“I told you it’s nothing…” Her eyes look around frantically for an escape. Jaune gets closer to her in concern and Ruby suddenly have a powerful urge to tear the blonde boy apart. She grits her teeth as they became jagged again.

“Ruby, tell us. Maybe Pyrrha and I can help you. C’mon, we’re friends right?” he says and grabs her wrist. She cringes for a second before her other hand moves in a blink of an eye, blood spills on the ground and Jaune yells in pain as he fell on his knees.

“JAUNE!” Pyrrha exclaims in worry and knelt down next to him. The blood came from his right ear since he’s holding that side. Her eyes widened and she trembles in panic. Ruby breathes heavily but upon realizing what she did, fear consumes her. She backs away quickly and watches in disbelief of what happened.

“Ruby, what was that-…” Weiss exclaims and turns but Ruby already left.

Ruby runs to the forest, using her semblance for additional speed so no one would find her. She stops after a while and leans against a tree. Her tremble became violent and she looks at her hands. They’re claws and her right claws are covered in blood. She chokes, too shock to process what’s happening to her and what she has done.

“W-what is… wrong… wi…th… m…e…?” Her voice became unintelligible and she feel her insides are burning. She tries to choke out words from her throat but none came out. Her mind is filled with inhumane thoughts. Her sight blurs and darkens and she keeps calling for help.

But she could only hear a howl echoed throughout the forest before she loses consciousness.


	3. Isolate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A shocking revelation made Ruby questions herself as a huntress, and her friend's reaction. She settled with hiding the secret, but her sister intended to find out the truth.

“Ruby! RUBY!! Where are you?!” Yang calls but there’s no answer. “Damn it! Where the heck did she ran off to?!”

Weiss and Blake reaches her outside of the forest. “Any sign of her?” Weiss asks.

“S-she could be in the forest!” Yang say shakily. As she takes a step into the forest, they hear a loud howl throughout the forest. Yang’s eyes widen in fear and worry, taking off immediately to find her sister.

“Yang, wait!” Blake calls but worry fills Yang’s head to make her listen. She has no idea where she’s running to and where to find Ruby but she needs to know whether she’s safe or not.

“Ruby! Ruby!” she calls. She doesn’t care if her calls would attract Grimm. She just need Ruby to know she’s coming to find her. “Please! Answer me! Ruby!!”

She looks around helplessly, her movement became slow and she only walks. She calls out to her repeatedly and keeps walking, moving through bushes as she did. She soon stops and her eyes widened in shock. A red cloak hanged on a branch and pieces of Ruby’s dress are on the ground. She grabs the cloak with shaky hands and picked it off the branch. She stares at it in shock before she looks at the pieces of her sister’s clothing. She kneels down, trembling.

“N-no… don’t tell me she…”

The bushes near her rustles and she quickly turn. She grips onto the cloak tightly and gets up. The rustling grew louder and closing in. Yang squints her eyes while she gets into her defensive stance, “Ruby?” she calls.

But the growling beyond the bushes are enough to tell her who’s behind them. She jumps back when a Beowolf leaps out to pounce her and missed. She activates her gauntlets and punch it when it tries to pounce her again. The Grimm growls, baring its teeth and its red eyes glares as if they’re going through her soul.

The wolf crawls to the side, attempting to find an opening to attack. Yang stands her ground and clenches her hands tightly. She gasps softly when she notices a piece of Ruby’s dress was on the Grimm’s spike. She gritted her teeth and her eyes turns red.

“Y-you…” her hair glows and a heat wave suddenly emits from her. She glares, her blood boils in anger. “What have you done to my sister?!” she lunges at it and delivered a heavy blow, punched its gut and send it flying through the trees.

Weiss and Blake who were on their way to her sees the Beowolf and gasps in shock. They quickly approach her, “What was that?! You’re going to-… I-is that…” Weiss words trail off when she notices the cloak in the blonde’s hands. She glances back at where the Grimm is. Yang breath hard, clenching her hands even tighter and slowly making her way to the wolf. She cracks her fingers and cocks her gauntlets.

Blake grew worried and quickly catch up to her, “Yang, please. You have to-…” She gasps softly when she notices her red eyes, glowed in anger she never seen before. Suddenly she’s more concerned about the Beowolf.

Yang already raises her fist as she gets close, just push herself through the bushes and she’ll see the creature. But a familiar whimper caught her off guard. She run through a couple of shrubs and her eyes widened to see Ruby on the ground naked, showing off ugly bruises on her side and gut. Cuts on her arms and she vomited blood.

“RUBY!!” Yang got to her side and hold her in her arms. Blake look in disbelief and Weiss soon caught up. She gasps and covers her mouth in shock. Yang shake Ruby gently, “R-Ruby… oh Ruby… w-what happened to you…”

“Y-Yang…” she choked and cough violently, more blood trails down the corner of her mouth. Yang wrapped her in her cloak, covering her nude body.

“Shh… I-it’ll be fine, Rubes. We’ll… we’ll take you to the infirmary. You’re gonna be fine, okay? T-trust me…” Yang assures and gets up. She looks at her team mates and frowns.

“I… I found a faster route back… Follow me,” Blake says and run ahead. Yang glances at Weiss and they soon followed her.

* * *

Blake never seen her partner that distressed before. She paces, mumbles, grunts, letting out incoherent noises, almost anything Blake could list down that would describe Yang’s feelings. But right now, she sits in silence next to her.

Well who wouldn’t when she found her sister injured terribly? Even she couldn’t imagine what would happen to Ruby if they couldn’t find her at all. She glances at Yang, who hides her face into her hands and slightly tremble.

She looked at Weiss, standing near the door where Ruby is. She knew the heiress feels the same but wouldn’t bother to let anyone know. The Faunus sighs softly, taking out her book and read, the only way for her to fill the emptiness.

Inside the room, Ruby grips onto the blanket tightly and trembles. She grits her teeth and looks down in disbelief. “H-how… how can I even…” she mumbles.

Professor Peach sighs, looking at her scroll with a frown, “It’s inside you, Ruby. You have the blood and it slowly affecting you.”

“But how, professor? H-how does it even affect me? And why me?” Ruby look at her, her eyes are flooded with tears. The woman hesitates, sighing softly and try to arrange her words carefully.

“Few days ago, you were sent here injured on the gut and the Beowolf’s blood on you. The blood probably entered your wound and infected you with its genes. I-it’s just my theory. I… I can’t really confirm that’s what happened to your body.”

“S-so… I am a Grimm now?” she stutters and look down at her hands. She trembles when they slowly turn into claws but manages to return to normal. Ruby look at the woman in fear, “W-what should I do?”

“Right now –” Peach stammers. “You should let your friends know about your condition. They-…”

“NO!” The woman was startled. Ruby’s eyes widened in disbelief and terror. She shakes her head in denial, “D-don’t let them know! Please, don’t let them know!” She begs.

“Ruby, they deserve to know. Sooner or later, they’ll find out one way or another. Especially your sister…”

The younger girl looks down. The tears that flooded her eyes fell onto the blanket and on her hands. She keeps shaking her head, “T-they’ll kill me, professor. E-even if they don’t, they’ll turn me in. O-or caged me or chain me…” she choked out.

“Don’t you trust them, Ruby? They are your friends. And your sister wouldn’t do such thing to you.”

“Y-you… you don’t know that…” She pulls her knees to her chest and hid her face into them. “Y-you don’t know… that.”

Peach sighs. She places her scroll on her desk, “If that’s what you wish for. But remember Ruby, you’re not the only one at stake here. If what happened to you today happens again in the future, your friends will be sentenced to murder instead…”

Ruby stays silent and sobs softly into her knees. The woman sighs again before deciding to leave the room quietly.

* * *

Knowing the condition of her body, Ruby starts to change. She’s quiet, looks distracted and she gradually loses her appetite. Yang notices this first and while Weiss and Blake assures her it was nothing; she’s greatly disturbed by the fact her sister begin to isolate herself.

One thing she knows about Ruby; she doesn’t like being alone.

So after their class with Doctor Oobleck, Yang decided to confront her sister but before she could, Ruby disappears in the crowd. She immediately follows her trail, seeing the cloak of hers was enough to lead Yang towards her. She grabs her wrist, stopping her.

“Why are you avoiding us, Ruby?” she asks. Ruby stays silent and slowly look at her with a frown. “Did… did I do something wrong to you?”

Yang’s grip loosens and Ruby look down. “You didn’t…” she answers.

“Then why are you avoiding us? Why are you avoiding me?”

“I’m not avoiding you.” Ruby storms off.

“Ruby, wait!” Yang runs after her and Ruby picks up the pace. Pulling up her hood, she runs out to the courtyard and tries her best to ignore her sister’s calling. But her footsteps get closer and she doesn’t know where else she could hide. She runs to the back of the academy instead.

“Ruby, where are you going?!” Yang follows her and reaches the back of the building. “Ruby-…” she gasps when Ruby isn’t there anymore. She looked around, trying to find a trail where she could run off to and left the place.

In the gaps of the building, a wolf wrapped in Ruby’s cloak and dress whimpers softly and curls up. A glimpsed of red highlights on its fur beneath the cloak and ears drooped with its silver eyes welling up tears.


	4. Trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When a cheerful girl turns silent, the whole team become a mess.

It is new for Weiss and Blake to face with a distancing Ruby. Not to mention the younger girl is more quiet than usual. Her hood is kept over her head most of the time and often covers her face, which annoys Weiss more.

“What’s with you and your hood? Just take it off!” she exclaims. Ruby pulls on her hood, covering her face even more as she trembles.

“Stop it, Weiss. You’re scaring her,” Blake defends.

She trembles violently. It’s not Weiss that Ruby feared; it’s what inside her she fears.

Weiss huffs. Yang isn’t around to back her up. She looks at Ruby for a moment and grabs her hood, attempting to pull it back. She yelps. “N-No, Weiss! P-please!” She begs.

“You know it’s rude to have this on your head. Just take it off!”

Her tremble grows violent than before. She grips onto her hood tightly and grits her teeth. Her fangs and claws grow, letting out low growl.

When Weiss manages to pull her hood back, Ruby suddenly bit her hand. She sinks her teeth deep into her flesh, sending Blake into utter shock and Weiss screams in pain. Blake’s eyes widened, unbeknownst to her that her leader’s eyes are red instead her gleaming silver eyes looking at Weiss in anger as she pulls away. She pulls her hood over her head again and growls.

Weiss trembles in shock and pain, clutching onto her injured left hand. Her whimpers woke Blake from her stupor and goes to the heiress to help. Ruby glares, but she calms down when she sees blood dripping from her partner’s hand. She looks at her in concern but her animal features remain.

“Ruby!” A voice calls and Ruby recognizes it immediately. Yang is shocked to see Weiss’ condition and quickly run to her. But Ruby already fixing to leave and the moment the blonde reach them, the red hooded girl bolts away.

Yang goes to Weiss and inspected her hand. She gasps softly when the bite turns out be like a dog bite. She glances at where Ruby ran to, unlike usual, there aren’t any rose petals left on the ground. She frowns. “Let’s just… go to the infirmary…” Yang suggests. 

* * *

“You’re lucky the bite wasn’t bone crushing like you thought,” Professor Peach say as she finished wrapping Weiss’ hand with bandage. She winces and slowly pulls her hand away, inspecting her hand. Yang sighs and looks at Peach with concern.

“Professor, when you were treating Ruby… was she acting strange?” she asks. The woman stops on her track, gulping hard and turn to her.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s…” Yang frowns. “She’s been acting strange. She always hides her face and runs from us. At night, she cries in pain. Did… that happened to you, ma’am?”

Peach sighs; her mind keep telling her to inform the truth but her promise to the red-cloaked girl stops her. “No… she does not. But I could check on her if you three can bring her here…” she suggests.

The three older girls look at each other in doubt. They hardly see their leader face to face and to bring her here is a challenge. Yang frowns, “We’ll… try to get her here… Thanks for helping Weiss.” The woman nods as the trio excuses themselves. Peach shakes her head, sympathizing their situation.

They go back to their dorm to see if their leader has returned. Yang hoped she would, Weiss hoped for the otherwise and Blake is in between. They have no clue what is going on with her or why would she acted in such manner. They really want Peach to tell them herself but even she has no clue of what is wrong with her.

Or that’s what she told them anyway.

Yang pushes the door open when they got there, but their leader is nowhere. She frowns, her shoulders slumps in disappointment. Weiss heads to her bed and sit on the edge, staring down at her hand in sadness.

Blake offers to call Ruby and so she does. They wait in silence as the Faunus girl waits for the beeping to end, hoping for her leader to pick up but it ends with silence as if the call was cut. She sighs.

“She’s not picking up…” Blake says, redialing her number again on her scroll. Weiss gently rubs her bandaged hand and Yang watches.

“How’s that hand?” she asks. Weiss sighs.

“It’s alright. Just… I-I didn’t think she would be that angry,” she mutters.

Blake still attempts to call Ruby while Yang goes to her sister’s bed. She climbs up, peeking over to her bed and gasps softly. She pulls herself up and examines her pillow; claw marks on the edge and she notices her bed sheet has a tear with similar pattern. She recalls last night she heard soft growls from her bed and she thought she was playing with Zwei.

But Zwei isn’t here and Ruby knows her curfew to not sleep so late.

“What’s wrong, Yang?” Weiss asks from below. Yang scowls but she knew she had to tell them what’s in her mind. 

* * *

A lone Beowolf walks through the forest cautiously, scanning around for an enemy before moving on. A torn black fabric stuck onto one of its spike and a red cloak in its mouth. The quiet sounds of stream catch its attention and it quickly make its way there.

The cloak is dropped and it laps the water hungrily. A couple of fish swims by but it doesn’t seem bothered by it. A huff of satisfaction escapes its mouth and stares into the water. The fishes aren’t the center of its attention. It was itself.

It let out a whimper and circles the spot. It looks at the cloak as it stops and walk towards it. Poking it with its snout, a scroll fell out from the folds. It rings and Blake’s face is on the screen. It whines. It waits for the ring to stop but the second came five seconds later. The Grimm suddenly feel fear and it cries.

Nobody would believe a Grimm could cry, nobody would believe a Grimm could’ve shrunk and their black fur replaced with pale skin or shortens to be hair. Red eyes turn silver and the cry sounds more human, child-like even. Pair of her own arms wrapped around herself in fear and pain. Tears fall from her eyes but she tries to stop. Her voice choked to speak and the ring stops. Five seconds later, it rings again. She sighs shakily and as calm as she could be, she picks it up and answers.

“H-hello?”

“Ruby, you’re there finally! Where are you? We need to talk with you now.”

She trembles, the voice of Yang in the background asking for her terrifies her. What do they want to talk about? About Weiss? She quickly thought up an apology but they don’t sound convincing. She gulps hard. She can’t leave them in the dark but she couldn’t afford them leaving or killing them after finding out who, or _what_ she has become.

She can’t keep them waiting either.

“I-I’ll be there…” She mutters and ends the call before Blake could say anything else. She sighs again and grabs her cloak, wrapping it tight around her. ‘I really should consider spare clothes next time…’ she thought. That would be impossible and she knows that well. She stands, making sure the cloak covers her body well enough and she slowly make it out of the forest. 

* * *

She really wants her team mates to stop asking; where was she? Why was she naked? Was she hurt? Why did she bite Weiss? For once, she wants them to shut up. Her head throbs due to the noise and she dismisses them with a wave of her hand. She grabs her clothes and walks passed them to the restroom.

Now the others, they are shocked. Especially Yang, never in her life would she thought her sister would dismiss her like that. She sits on Blake’s bed in disbelief and disappointment. She sighs and frowns deeply. “What’s wrong with her?” She mutters.

“She’s hiding something. I’m sure of it,” Weiss proclaims but it doesn’t elicit any interest from her blonde team mate. Blake knows what she’s thinking but wouldn’t want to say it out loud. She sits next to her and wraps her arms around her in comfort.

“She needs some time for herself. She did look exhausted. Let her be for now, okay?” she assures. Yang looks at her for a moment, then nods. Her muscles relaxed and she sighs shakily.

But of course, Ruby heard. She frowns and ducks to the restroom to wash. She wishes she could tell.

Though there’s no way she would admit the truth.


	5. Wolf in Red Hood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Red Riding Hood was once told to never trust a stranger. So when a strange wolf approached her and spoke to her, she shouldn't trust him, right?
> 
> Doesn't that mean she shouldn't trust herself too?

Ruby remembers well a story her sister read to her when they were kids.

**_Once upon a time, there was a little girl who lived in a village near the forest. Whenever she went out, the little girl wore a red riding cloak, so everyone in the village called her Little Red Riding Hood._ **

_“Like me!” she exclaimed. Yang giggled softly. Her pairs of silver eyes beamed as her sister continued:_

**_One morning, Little Red Riding Hood asked her mother if she could go to visit her grandmother as it had been awhile since they’d seen each other._ **

**_Her mother agreed. And so, they packed a nice basket for Little Red Riding Hood to take to her grandmother._ **

**_When the basket was ready, the little girl put on her red cloak and kissed her mother goodbye._ **

**_Her mother warned to not talk to strangers and go straight to her grandmother. The little girl assured as she skipped away from her home._ **

**_But when Little Red Riding Hood noticed some lovely flowers in the woods, she forgot her promise to her mother. She picked a few, watched the butterflies flit about for a while, listened to the frogs croaking and then picked a few more._ **

**_Little Red Riding Hood was enjoying the warm summer day so much, that she didn't notice a dark shadow approaching out of the forest behind her..._ **

_Ruby gasped, “Oh no!” Yang assured she will be alright, earning a nod from her little sister. Ruby clutched her own red cloak and moved closer to Yang._

**_The shadow belonged to a wolf. He appeared beside her and tipped his hat. He asked the girl where she was heading, and was told she was on her way to her grandmother who lived near a brook._ **

**_Knowing how late she was, she excused herself and quickly continued down the path to her grandmother’s home._ **

**_The wolf, however, took a shortcut..._ **

_Yang stopped when she sees her baby sister cowered beside her. Her red cloak wrapped tightly around her. This wasn’t the first time she read the story to her, it was the third but Ruby was fond with it because how similar she is with the little girl in the story._

_She stopped on that part that night, tucking Ruby into bed and kissed her goodnight._

_“Y-Yang?” she called._

_“What is it, Rubes?”_

_“I-if there is a big bad wolf, will you protect me?”_

_“Of course, I would! I will beat that wolf if he hurts my baby sis!”_

_“R-really?”_

_“You bet I would!”_

But what if the little red riding hood **_IS_** the big bad wolf? Would Yang still beat the wolf up? The wolf did hurt her but now it is a part of her.

What WILL she do?

She knows how the story ended. The wolf was killed by a woodsman who happened to hear the cries of the little girl. She shivers, as she expected to have HER story to end as bloody as the wolf’s.

She is the wolf. The woodsman could be anyone who gets to kill her first. The thoughts poison her mind and she wished she wouldn’t have thought it up but fear gnaws her heart. She gulps hard and wraps her cloak tight around her.

“I just want to be a normal girl with normal knees…” She murmurs to herself. The words that she once told her sister, but being ‘normal’ is already far gone. She sighs shakily and pulls her knees to her chest.

Professor Peach approaches her. Her Scroll in her hands. Wrinkles on her forehead creates a frown. “How long do you want to keep this, Ruby?” The woman asks. Ruby sighs again, her lips tremble and she’s in the brink of tears.

“I-I don’t want to keep it, professor… B-but how can I know… t-they won’t hurt me?” Her voice reduces to squeak. Her wolf ears grow out and they droop. She immediately pulls up her hood, concealed them under the covers. Peach shake her head, disapproving.

“I could’ve just tell them myself…” Ruby gasps. Her eyes widen in fear. “They need answers. But more importantly, they are worried for you. What kind of leader doesn’t trust her own team mates?” She says.

Ruby stays silent. She looks down to her hands. They changed to paws in a blink but they returned to normal when she blinks again. Her hands burn for a moment when they change. She clenches them, hard. “I can’t even trust myself. I’m a monster… What if I attack them in my unconscious state?” she mutters.

“The more reason you should let them know…” Ruby glances at her, giving a frown. The woman pulls up a chair next to her bed. “They may not have the solution to your mutation, but at least they could do something to distinguish you from other Grimm out there,” she explains.

Ruby considers this for a moment. Silence fills the room and Peach patiently waits. The younger girl sighs softly. “M-maybe… I’ll think about it properly…”

Peach nods, only hope for the best. 

* * *

Her team has been waiting long than they could remember. When their leader walks out, they frown on the sight of her hood over her head. Ruby notices their disappointment, and only keep her gaze to the floor. She gulps hard and head straight for the exit.

In her whole fifteen years old life, she never lies. Except the times when she wants to surprise her sister or father during their birthdays. Those are nothing compared to the lies she has to give to her team now.

She lied about her real condition. She lied about her mutation, her being unable to control herself. She lied about where she’s been going lately.

She hasn’t heard from Jaune ever since she injured him. It wasn’t intentional, but she couldn’t help but feeling guilty since it was she who hurt him.

She realizes her team has been distant, including her sister. They still do things together; eat at the cafeteria, go to classes and do homework in their room or library. Other than that, it has to be set aside. She realizes they’ve been watching her and one time, Blake was caught trying to follow her to the Emerald Forest.

She told her off, and that only adds up their suspicion.

She runs to the Emerald Forest after she leaves the infirmary, and left her team mates behind.

She goes to the same stream she went yesterday. She sits at the bank, dips her legs into the water and let her boots get wet. The coolness of the stream calms her and she sighs. She looks down to the water and sees her reflection; hooded, insecure, scared…

She pulls her hood back, a pair of wolf ears already present. Her heads hurt when that happens but gradually she’s gotten used to it. The pain only lingers during the process and it will slowly go away. Small things like the ears or paws, she could handle but when her whole body goes through it? She feels like she’s going to melt away along with her humanity.

How long she has been living with this? A girl who wanted to fight monsters but ended up becoming one herself. It sounds like it came from a book... and it came from a horror story.

Ruby looks down to her hands as they slowly turning into paws. She dips them into the water and the burn lessens but she could feel it all over her body. She pulls her paws out, turning them over to see despite it not being the first time. She frowns.

“W-what if they don’t accept me?” she mutters. Drops of tears fall on her paws and she wipes them away. The fur soaks the tears but never her sorrow and guilt.

“I-I’m sorry… I-I’m so sorry…” She pulls her legs out of the water and to her chest, hugging them tight. She sobs into her knees, and only accompanied by the sound of stream and the rustling of the trees. 

* * *

_"Please don’t be too hard on her. She needs some time to tell you the truth…”_ Was what Professor Peach told them.

But then, why wouldn’t Ruby tell her? Why would Ruby hide something so important from her sister? Yang could accept the reasons Ruby won’t tell Weiss or Blake but her? She’s been worried sick about her well being and Ruby has been shrugging them off like it was nothing.

Her baby sister often comes back exhausted for unknown reasons. Training? She doubts she’s been training all by herself since she likes to show off her scythe and speed to Weiss.

She did go to the Emerald Forest after the two girls went back to their dorm. She went there to give her Crescent Rose. Lately, she’s been leaving Crescent Rose behind. There are two things Ruby wouldn’t leave behind; her cloak and her scythe. She’s been leaving it on purpose, as if she can fight without it.

Ruby is terrible in hand-to-hand combat.

She went there, but Ruby is nowhere to be found. She frowns. “Ruby! Ruby!” she yells. No answer. She takes her Scroll out and contacts her younger sister. She doesn’t respond.

She keeps looking and calling. Her sister’s scythe in her left while her scroll on her right. She calls, by mouth and Scroll hoping for Ruby to answer. But there isn’t. She bites her lips, “Why wouldn’t she answer?!”


End file.
